posted Oct 8th, 2013 - The story of the VFS 4way duel between Teams4speed SD from France and Dubai Nexus began with the 2012 season. Team4speed had won the first VFS gold medals for France in Menzelinsk 2010 and continued with the same lineup. There was little competition for the world champions from France.

VFS 4way fan Jason Russell had helped to launch the skydiving project in Dubai in the meantime and was eventually ready to follow his own passion. He formed Dubai Nexus, and the chase of the French national VFS 4way team had begun.

Dubai Nexus was not ready in time to defeat the French team on their home turf at the Mondial Dubai 2012. However, Nexus was possibly closer to Team4speed than the French team and their 4-time world champion Philippe Schorno may have expected at the end of the 2012 season. Nexus had won the silver medals and left behind the US team SDC Standard XP.
Click on the score for a round with a link to see the teams' videos

World Cup 2013		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	VFS 4way	K,5,G,10	9,11,12	N,16,2	17,I,E,L	B,C,6,1	3,7,4	13,D,H,A	F,J,14,8	Total	Avg
1	Dubai Nexus (AE)	19(-1)	25(-1)	24(-1)	25	21(-1)	24(-1)	22	30	190	23.8
2	Team4speed SD (FR)	16(-3)	24(-1)	22(-4)	20(-1)	22(-1)	22(-1)	23	32	181	22.6
3	Blue Pelican (NO)	9	11	10	5	9	11	12	13	80	10.0
4	Fly Definition (PL)	2	9	3	5	4	8	7	9	47	5.9
5	Varial (UK)	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0.3

Dubai Nexus	Team4speed SD

Both teams had changes in the lineups at the beginning of the 2013 season, as the NSL News reported on 23 May 2013 (Dubai Nexus) and on 13 August 2013 (Team4speed SD). The story on 4 August 2013 explained that the World Cup 2013 would define a new starting point for both teams.

Dubai Nexus probably liked the situation after the starting point much better than Team4speed SD. The challengers of the three reigning French world champions with new member Cathy Bouette had created almost exactly the same distance to the silver medalist in Banja Luka that Team4speed had over Nexus at the Mondial 2012.

French coach Philippe Schorno has been through similar battles with the US teams between 1987 and 1993 in traditional 4way and had always ended up on top. He was determined after the World Cup 2013 to bring his VFS 4way team back to the gold medal position as soon as possible.

USPA Nationals 2013		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	VFS 4way	D,I,9,7	H,E,M,P,J	6,F,A,G	N,14,8	K,2,17	11,1,L	10,4,12	C,15,16	Total	Avg
1	Dubai Nexus (AE)	16(-2)	23	20(-2)	38(-1)	23(-1)	21(-2)	19	20	180	22.5
2	Team4speed SD (FR)	18(-1)	24	19	32(-1)	21(-1)	25	18(-1)	16(-2)	173	21.6
3	Arizona Arsenal (US)	18(-1)	22	16(-1)	25(-2)	22	24	15(-2)	15	157	19.6
4	Arizona Drive (US)	11	12	10	20	15	12	12	12	104	13.0
5	Eggum Racing (US)	0	3	1	3	3	4	1	1	16	2.0

Team4speed SD and Philippe Schorno need more time. The four weeks between World Cup and USPA Nationals 2013 were not enough to close the gap and catch up with Dubai Nexus.

The difference after the meet in Ottawa is down to seven points after nine points in Banja Luka. However, the scores before penalties are showing that Nexus is still going on a faster pace. Philippe Schorno was not happy with the many point deductions at the World Cup (-11), and his team cleaned up some of it in Ottawa (-6). Nexus suffered even more point deductions at the USPA Nationals (8) than at the World Cup (5) and was still far ahead of France.

Philippe Schorno now has more time to work with his team and bring it back up to the top spot. The next showdown between Team4speed SD and Dubai Nexus will probably take place at the 4th Dubai Cup in December this year.